From the playoff beard to lucky shorts, sport stars are fond of using of unconventional measures to ensure their team's success in the big game. As the 2011 World Series kicks off, TIME takes a look at superstitions that have become intertwined with the wide world of sports

Warming Up To Chicken

Baseball players are notorious for their borderline obsessive compulsive routines, which range from hitters adjusting batting gloves after every pitch to the methodical pre-game routines of starting pitchers. Perhaps the most flavorful of all MLB routines, however, belonged to Hall of Fame third baseman Wade Boggs, who would eat a meal of chicken before every game. This tradition started after he noticed a correlation between his multi-hit games and his consumption of the poultry dish. In a more logical explanation, Boggs described the consumption of chicken as part of a ‘cocoon’ that helped insulate him from external distractions before every game. The extra protein intake certainly didn’t hurt, as Boggs amassed more than 3,000 hits by career’s end, leaving only one question remaining — did he prefer fried or grilled?